Street indicator



June 5, 1923.

. 7 1,457,732 W. M. FLEWELLING STREET INDICATOR Filed June 19, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet l l/VVE/VTOI? WITNESSES w I K/Z 7 651416144, MIG,

Patented June 5, 1923.

UNITED STATES PAT WILLARD MORTIMER FLEWELLING, or nnannsnune, CALIFORNIA. I

STREET INDICATOR.

Application filed June 19, 1922. Serial No. 5se,4.s5.-

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLARD M. FLEw- ELLING, a citizen of the United'States, and resident of Healdsburg, in the county of Sonoma and State of California, have in vented certain new and useful Improvements in Street Indicators, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to street indicators especially adapted for use upon street cars. Briefly'stated, an important object of this invention is to provide a street indicator having simple means whereby the same may be conveniently adjusted or operated to indicate to the occupants of the street car the next stop. I i

Further the invention forming the subject matter of this application aims to'provide an indicator which may be conveniently reversed when the street car reaches the end of the line. 5

A. further object is to provide simple means whereby the varyingdiameters of the sheet or apron supporting rolls is automatically compensated for, so that the sheet or apron may be conveniently transferred from one roller to the other.

A further object is to provide a street indicator of the class described which is of highly simplified construction, durable in' use and cheapto manufacture.

. Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent during the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this application and in which'like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,- 1

Figure 1 is a perspective of the improved street indicatoiythe casing being shown in dotted lines.

Figure 2 isa perspective of a pawl embodied in the invention,

Figure 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view through the indicator.

Figure 4 is an end view illustrating a tensioning spring embodied in the invention.

8 In the drawing whereinfor the purpose of illustration is shown a preferred embodiment of the invention the numeral 5 generally designates a casing which is adapted to be arranged at the center of a street car and supported in any. manner. If desired, the casing may be supported atone end of'the car without in any way departing from the spirit of the invention. Figures 3 and 4 illustrate that the side walls 6 are hinged to' the casing as indicated at? and the said. side walls constitute doors which may be swung outwardly to afford complete access. to the internal mechanism ofthe indicator. Also the doors 6 of which there'are two are provided with inwardly extending. spaced portions or lips 8 having their edge portions arranged in spaced, relation to constitute sight openings by means of which the indications may be read as they appear. Suitable hooks and eyes, 9 and 10 respectively maybe employed to secure the (100136.111 position. Also the top or cover 12 may be hingedly supported as indicated at18and-is provided with fastening devices 14 by means of which thecover may be secured. in a; closed position. a p I v Figure 3 illustratesthat upper and lower rollers 18 and 20 respectively are arranged within the casing and extend horizontally through the same. With reference to. Fig-; ure 2 it will be observed that the pintle. at one end of each roller is square as indicated. at 22 and is received within the slot of a holding plate 23 whereby the pintle is held against rotation. 1 A I f An apron 25 is trained about-the upper. and lower rollers and secured to the same so.

that when the apronlis actuated by means to be later described the spring tension of the rollers will cause the apron to wind upon the rollers. That isto say,each roller 18 and 20 is provided with a spring 28 which. forms a means whereby the apron is wound thereon when actuated- However the spring tension does not prevent the'portion of the apron on one of the rollers from being removed therefrom when the indicator is actu-v ated. p I The apron 25 is operated by means of a pair of actuating rollers 30 arranged between the upper and lower rollers 18 and 20 in spaced parallel relation thereto. The actuating rollers 30 are preferably coated with rubber or other material-which will tightly grip the apron 25 so as to cause thes'ame to move from one rollerrto the other. Figure 3. illustrates that the apron is trained. above one roller, between both of theirollers and then beneath the-other roller and has frictional contact with the rollers so that when the rollersare rotated the apron will be. transferred from one of the supportingrollers to the other. i

The rollers 30 whichconstitute an a 'ctu'atf ing means are pressed toward each other by means of a U-shaped tcnsioning device 33 having spaced side arms 34 possessed of suificient resiliency to urge the rollers toward each other to securely grip the apron. The end portions of the actuating rollers are provided with axles 36 engaged by the hooked terminal portions 37 of the arms 34. Figure 4 illustrates that the resiliency which is inherent in the arms 34 presses the actuating rollers tightly together.

The axles 36 of the actuating rollers are provided with gears 40 which mesh with each other so that the rollers are caused to rotate together. Each axle 36 is extended beyond the gear 40 which it supports and is provided with a ratchet wheel 41 engaged by a pawl 42 pivoted as indicated at 43 to an actuating arm 44. As illustrated in Figure l the arms 44 are connected by means of a link 46 and one of the arms is extended upwardly beyond the link and is provided with a laterally directed terminal portion 47 to which an operating cable or flexible element 48 is connected. When installing the invention on a street car, the cable 48 is extended to a suitable point of control and when operated will cause the arms 44 to move about the axes of the axles 36. It might be stated that only one of the pawls 42 is engaged with the associated ratchet wheel and the other pawl is positioned out of engagement with the ratchet wheel with which it is associated. Therefore, when the arms 44 are operated one of the ratchet wheels will be engaged by the associated pawls for rotating the actuating rollers 30 in one direction. On the other hand, when the other pawl is in its operative position, the actuating rollers 30 are rotated in the other direction whereby to cause a reverse movement of the apron 25. When the cable isreleased the arms 44 are swung backwardly by a coiled spring 50 having-one terminal arm 51 engaged with the adjacent arm 44. The other terminal portion of the coiled spring is anchored at any suitable point to the casing and it will be seen that the coiled spring serves as a convenient means for returning the arms 44 to their original positions when the cable 48 is released.

Suitable stop elements 55 may be connected to the casing and arranged in the path of travel of the arms 44 so as to limit the swinging motion of the same. It might be stated that the pawls 42 are movable through longitudinally extending slots 58 in the arms 44 and the walls of the slots 58 forma means for bracing the pawls against the ratchet wheels. Fig. 1 illustrates that the pivot pins 43 for the pawls extend through blocks 60 riveted or otherwise secured to the outer sides of the arms.

In carrying out the invention the apron 25 which may be of any desired material may be provided with suitable data to indicate the streets, be it a numbered or lettered street and as the car approaches the stop the cable 48 is operated from a remote point to bring the proper indication in line with the sight opening. It will be observed that the sight openings are on opposite sides of the rollers and in a horizontal plane with the same so that the matter at the sides of the rollers may be readily, viewed. The roller 25 is provided on opposite sides with the data to indicate the streets and the data on one side is visible through one of the sight openings and the data on the other side is visible through the other sight opening. hen the car reaches the end of the route the pawls 42 may be reversed so that theapron will travel in the other direction. More particularly when it is desired to reverse the direction of travel of the apron 25 the pawl 42 which was previously in engagement with the associated ratchet wheel is moved outwardly to its inoperative position and the other pawl is moved from its inoperative to its operative position and the subsequent movement of the cord or cable 48 will. result in the rotation of the actuating rollers 30 in the other direction.

The invention forming'the subject matter of this application is especially designed for use on street car routes having loops at the ends thereof so that'the car is turned completely around.

However, in routes having a loop only at one end or a switch at both ends the conductor and motorman must reverse their positions in the'car and consequently a slightly diii'erent arrangement must be provided, all of which is in the spirit and scope of this invention.

If the motorman and conductor are required to change positions at the end of the route an indicator having one arm 44 at each end of the casing will be-provided. Also when one arm 44 is provided at each end of the casing one spring 57, one pawl 42 and other associated elements will be arranged at each end of the casing. This arrangement will permit operating cords 48 to be extended in opposite directions so that when the conductor changes his position in the car he will be able to operate the indi cator.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is 1. A street indicator comprising a casing, upper and lower main rollers arranged therein, an apron trained about said rollers, a pair of actuating rollers arranged between said upper and lower rollers and having axles connected to said casing, said casing being provided with sight openings on opposite sides of said actuating rollers and in the plane of the same, said apron being trained about said actuating rollers and extending between the same for operation thereby, a U-shaped tensioning member having hooked terminal portions engaged with said axles for urging the actuating rollers firmly into contact withthe apron, gears mounted on said axles for causing the actuating rollers to move together, arms rotatable on said axlesand carrying pivoted.

pawls, ratchet wheels secured on said axles and separately engaged by said pawls, a

link connecting the arms for movement together, and stop elements arranged in the path of said arms.-

2. A street indicator comprising a casing,

: upper and lower main rollers arranged therein, an apron trained about said rollers, a pair of. actuating rollers. arranged between said upper and lower rollers and having axles connected to said casing, said casing being provided withsight openings on opposite sides of. said actuating rollers and in the plane of the same, said apron being trained about said actuating rollers and ex-' tending between the same for operation thereby, a U-shaped tensioning member having hooked terminal portions engaged with said axles for urging the actuating rollers firmly into contact with the apron, gears upper and lower main rollers arranged therein, an apron trained about said rollers,

a pair of actuating rollers arranged between said upper and lower rollers and having axles connected to "said casing, said casing being provided with sight openings-on opposite sides of said actuating rollers and in the plane of the same, said apron being tending between the "same for operation thereby, a U-shaped tensioning mem er trained aboutsaid actuating rollers and exhaving hooked terminal portions engaged with said axles for urging the actuating rollers firmly into contact with the apron, gears mounted on said axles for causing the actuatingrollers to move (together, arms rotatable on said axles and carrying pivoted pawls, ratchet wheels secured on said axles and separately engaged by said pawls, and

a link connecting the arms for movement together.

a 4. A street indicatorcomp'risin g apair of apron supporting. rollers, an aprontrained;

about 'said rollers, a pair. of actuating rollers arranged'between the first named rollers and having axles, a U-shapedrhember having side arms engaged with said axle'for urging the actuating rollers into contactwith the apron, means mounted on said axles. for causing the actuating rollers to move together, arms rotatable on said axles and carrying pivoted pawls, ratchet wheels secured on said axles and separately and independentlyv engaged by said pawls, means connecting the arms for movement together, and a spring engaged with one of said arms for urging the. arms to their normal positions. Y

WILLARD MORTIMER FLEWELLING. 

